When Things Can't Get Worse
by janni-chan
Summary: SONIC UNDERGROUND! [chap1 uploaded] The SU takes another go at trying to have a vacation, but as a virus breaks loose and gets closer to them that they'd ever think, everything spins out of control...


NOTE: AH!!! I WROTE ANOTHER SU STORY!!! XD XD XD XD Well… I actually never expected to start writing on this again, but the small piece of the story that was just lying around in my folder really caught my attention and I started writing XD So… I finished the first chapter, so I'd better finish the others too =P  
  
Note that I haven't finished rewriting all of my previous fics yet, so they aren't up on Fanfiction.net yet, so people who HAVEN'T read my story "Family Secrets" and "Weak or Strong?" might just wanna go straight to the end of this chapter and read up on Blade the Echidna and the Jennifer-being-Robotnik's-daughter-thing lol ;; And now for the copyrights…  
  
Sonic Underground and all official SU characters are © DiC/SEGA/Sonic Team.  
  
Blade the Echidna © Lisa Hogan ---- mah bestest buddiiieh! =P  
  
Jennifer Scott Hedgehog and story © Janni P ---- me.  
  
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WHEN THINGS CAN'T GET WORSE…  
  
[written by: Janni Pedersen; janni-chan]  
  
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The frozen landscape of the East Mobius mountain range seemed so beautiful at this time of the day…well, it always seemed beautiful in some way, but the way the light was falling made it seem almost magical. And everything seemed so quiet as Manic walked through the snow, from the van up towards Rainbow Mountain with a deep frown on his face…  
  
"Of course I always get these kinds of jobs… why couldn't Sonic just keep an eye on his watch HIMSELF….." he rolled his eyes and kept muttering to himself as he came closer and closer to the mountain. As he kept walking, kicking the snow while muttering angrily to himself, he suddenly noticed a spot coming down the mountain… shading his eyes from the sun with his hands, he was finally able to see what exactly this "spot" was; Sonic… on his snowboard.  
  
"SONIC! HEY!!! DINNER TIME!!!" Manic waved widely at him with both of his arms; Sonic could definitely hear him now… "IT'S-"   
  
"RUN!!!!" Sonic's scream cut him off… and as Manic took a better look at him as he came closer, the panic in Sonic's face was obvious, "I CAN'T STOOOOP!!!!!"  
  
Manic's eyes instantly widened as he heard this; but it was already too late… as he was about to jump to aside, Sonic hit him with full speed; both hedgehogs fell over with a scream. Then everything was silent.  
  
After several seconds, Manic slowly opened his eyes… the snowboard was on top of him, and Sonic was sitting on it.   
  
"Ouch…" he rubbed his head… he'd definitely gotten a lump… "Hey… Sonic, get that snowboard offa me…." He winced, pushing the snowboard a little, making Sonic fall off with a small shriek…  
  
"Hey!" he got to his feet, grabbing the snowboard, "you didn't need to do that…"  
  
"And that's coming from a hedgehog who just ran me over with a snowboard?!" Manic shook his head with a sigh, starting to walk down towards the camp site again, rubbing his back, "get control over your snowboard, Sonic, before you run anybody else over… a polar bear just might not be as forgiving as I am…"  
  
Sonic didn't bother saying anything… he just rolled his eyes and followed his brother…  
  
"You think it's a good idea to tell him something he doesn't want to hear?" Dingo looked to Sleet, nervously, "I mean… when we do that it usually doesn't go well…"  
  
Sleet clenched his teeth… he knew Dingo was actually right about this, but still…  
  
"Well, not telling him at all would make it even worse!" he slapped Dingo over the head, "you're just lucky I don't make YOU tell him…" he looked the paper over once more, "besides, we don't know much about this OLC-virus…"  
  
"'Cept that Robotnik doesn't like it…"  
  
Dingo got another slap.  
  
"It may not be as bad as he makes it seem… for us anyway. Let's go!" Sleet turned to the door again. Then, pushed the security code, making the door open. As they stepped in, their path was immediately blocked by two SWATbots, but as they both recognized the wolf and the dingo, they immediately stepped aside.  
  
Robotnik was sitting in his chair in the middle of the room, getting up the instant he saw his lackeys with the papers. As they stopped in front of him, he lowered his eyebrows.  
  
"Well..?"  
  
Sleet and Dingo looked at each other, nervously, while stepping back a little.   
  
"Sir..." Sleet cleared his throat, "according to the information we got from Eastern Mobius, traces of the OLC-virus has been found in several blood tests down there…" he stepped further back, just to make sure…  
  
Robotnik just frowned as he heard this. Then turned, walking over to the window nearby, "tell them to get the vaccine flown here this instant. Just to be secure."  
  
"What's the big deal about this virus anyway?" Dingo scratched his head, "with that odd name, it can't be that dangerous, can it? Wouldn't it be named the killer virus if it-" Sleet instantly slapped him, growling some insults, quietly. However, Robotnik didn't seem that angry about the question. Just looked at his two henchmen with a lifted eyebrow for a while. Then, walked over to his chair, sitting down again.  
  
"It stands for Mobian Overlander Control Virus. You guess."   
  
"It… gives Overlanders control of computers?"   
  
Yet another slap for Dingo…  
  
"It's not a computer virus! Fool…!" Robotnik hissed, "it was made by some Anti-Overlander group when the Queen still ruled the planet! To kill Overlanders! Most Mobians are immune to it, it's still detectable in Mobian blood, but usually, it only infects Overlanders… the anti-Overlander imbeciles never got to adjust it to only infecting Overlanders, so SOME Mobians are still prone to it for some reason…" he then sent the two of them a glare, "now, get outta here! And make sure to tell the fools in Eastern Mobius to get the vaccine here fast!!" he slammed his fist down into the arm rest of the chair. Sleet nodded rapidly and he and Dingo turned around and started running out of the room before Robotnik got a chance to get a hold of something to throw after them.  
  
In the SU van, dinner had been finished in a matter of seconds in Sonic's case. He was now sitting, leaning back with his chair against the wall, practicing on his guitar, making Manic, Sonia and Jennifer send him a few glares while they were still eating.  
  
"Can't you wait 'till everyone's done, Sonic… maybe we'd like to talk without the background music?" Sonia pushed her plate away with a snort. Manic nodded, eating the last of his bred.  
  
"Or maybe go outside or something… but then again, if you start singin', the reindeers'll think you're calling for them." He smirked as Sonic instantly stopped playing, glaring at him while both Jennifer and Sonia snickered.  
  
"Well, at least I won't start avalanches with my drumming!" Sonic turned his guitar back into his medallion again, "I think half of the snow fell off rainbow mountain when you practiced this morning!"  
  
Manic just rolled his eyes, still smirking.  
  
"At least I got you to stop…" he took some more bread.  
  
"Shut up, will ya?!"  
  
"Sonic, why don't you just speed in to buy some more bread?" Sonia broke in, nodding to the bread basket, "that was our last bag… Manic's addicted to it, it seems…"  
  
Manic let out a quiet "hey!" while folding his arms, but Sonic just lifted an eyebrow.  
  
"I thought J went to town this morning?!"  
  
"I did…" Jennifer shrugged her shoulders, "but I kinda hurried outta the shop… the guy sneezed in my face…" she shuddered, "I was afraid that I was gonna freak and blow the disguise, so I ran outta there right after paying…"  
  
"Besides… J only went because we were busy setting up the camp and making the fire…" Manic looked at the three others to make sure they weren't looking, then, snatched the last piece of bread, "I don't think it's a good idea to make what they think is an Overlander walk right into their city…"   
  
"Hm… ok… I guess I could use a chilli-dog anyway…" Sonic sighed heavily, grabbing his jacket and his boots. Sonia, Manic and Jennifer looked at one another, their mouths dropping open.  
  
"You just ate around eight sandwiches and you're talking about CHILI-DOGS?!?!" Sonia blinked in confusion, "how in Mobius's name can you stuff all of that into your stomach?!"  
  
Sonic just let out a laugh while opening the door to the van.  
  
"You don't know me, sis… there's always room for a chilli-dog or six! I'll see you later!" he jumped out and closed the door before Sonia got to say anything. Sonia, Manic and Jennifer looked after him, still with a surprised expression on their faces.  
  
"Well…" Manic cleared his throat, getting out of his chair while nodding to the table, "suppose we'll do the dishes then…"  
  
"Are you serious?! Testing the entire HQ?!" Cyrus still paced around in a circle in Blade's office… he had done so for several minutes, seeming all stressed to say the least, "Blade, it'll take WEEKS!"   
  
Blade was sitting on his chair, just looking Cyrus over… he nodded at the lion's remark.  
  
"I know that… it just needs to be done. I'll get some help analysing the blood test from Mobius Central Hospital."  
  
"But… it'll slow us down immensely… plus, it'll cause most of the freedom fighters to panic!"  
  
"That's why we tell them we're just testing them to make sure a flu epidemic doesn't break out." Blade picked up some papers from his desk, grabbing his communicator, "it basically is nothing but a flu to Mobians anyway… look, I'll get in touch with the central hospital… could you get a hold of Sonic and the other three in the morning? I'd like to give them the vaccine as some of the first people, but it's probably too late to get a hold of them tonight.…"  
  
Cyrus had stopped pacing around and was now just staring at Blade.  
  
"But it's no reason to ask them to come home! They're on vacation…."  
  
Blade instantly looked up at him from the papers with a small frown.  
  
"OLC stands for Overlander Control Virus… Jennifer is as close to an overlander as you get besides Robotnik. Also, a few Mobians carrying the virus has been detected in the town nearby, and we have no idea whether any of the four are immune to that virus or not. They should probably come home…"  
  
Cyrus still had a lifted eyebrow. He didn't say anything but then, just nodded yes, and as Blade started fiddling with his communicator, he started walking out of the clinic room with a deep frown…  
  
"I KNEW I shouldn't have offered to take over the command of this place while everyone was on vacation…."  
  
Sonia's eyes snapped open as she heard the door open and winds started to blow into the van… everything in the van was dark, and as she got her flashlight out and looked at her watch, it didn't really surprise her… it was 3 AM…   
  
The door wasn't closed by anyone, so she jumped out of bed, lighting around in the van while she walked over to the door to close it- then, she froze… Sonic's bunk was empty… She looked around in the van again, but he certainly wasn't there… she quickly got her shoes and coat on, hurrying outside, closing the door behind her; then turned around, lighting around herself in the darkness…  
  
"Sonic..? Sonic, where in Mobius's name are you?!?!" she hissed, making her way through the snow with her teeth gritted, "SONIC?!?!?!"  
  
It was windy, yet, she could still hear her own voice echoing… she suddenly noticed him… he was about 60 feet away from her, walking up a hill… or staggering would be a more fitting word…  
  
"What is he doing?!"   
  
Sonia let out a shriek, turned around and hit out into the air as she heard the sudden voice… only to realize that she had just slapped her own little brother. Manic was standing rubbing his cheek with a surprised expression on his face…  
  
"Why, hello sis…" he blinked in confusion, "what was that for?!"  
  
Sonia just frowned.  
  
"How should I know it was you?! You were asleep when I left the van, and you should know better than just sneak up on me like that!"  
  
"Sorry!" Manic just rolled his eyes, "anyway… don't think we have time for this… let's get a hold of him first." He nodded in the direction of the hill that Sonic was still climbing. Sonia just nodded, and she and Manic started running in his direction…   
  
It didn't take long for them to catch up with their brother… Sonic was staggering at a pretty slow pace, which was definitely nothing like him… Manic was the first one to put a hand on his shoulder, making him stop instantly.  
  
"Hey, bro! What's the night hiking all about?" Manic lifted an eyebrow as Sonic turned to them… his eyes seemed distant for a moment, and he was just looking to the two of them with a surprised expression on his face. Then, he smiled.  
  
"Hey mom…"  
  
This made Manic and Sonia let out a loud 'huh' while looking at one another, confused to say the least.  
  
"Mom?!" Sonia frowned, "Sonic, are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah… I was just gonna go catch a fish for the pizza!" Sonic laughed, "we're having pizza for dinner today, right?"  
  
Sonia and Manic looked to one another again, now even more surprised, almost scared.  
  
"Sonic…" Sonia started, biting in her lip, nervously, "we already had dinner tonight… and the lake is in the other direction…"  
  
"Not to mention it's covered in at least 20 inches of ice AND nobody eats fish on their pizza… not even you." Manic let out a laugh, only making Sonia slap him over the head, sweatdropping, "HEY! Stop slapping me already! I already had my fair share!!"  
  
Sonia just looked at him, still frowning, folding her arms.  
  
"I think he's sleep walking or something…" she almost whispered, motioning to Sonic who was now doodling in the snow with his shoe.  
  
"Either that or he's gone completely mad…"  
  
"Well… either way, we should get him back to the van…"  
  
"Right…" Manic looked at his brother out of the corner of his eyes, "let's go then…"  
  
Sonia nodded, and turned to Sonic again with a smile… he didn't seem to have heard anything they said, he still had that distant look in his eyes.  
  
"Sonic… how about we go back to the van and try and sleep for the rest of the night?" she put a hand on his shoulder. Sonic was still looking down at the snow and didn't seem to hear that either.  
  
"Sonic..?" Manic tapped his shoulder a little, finally getting his attention, "bed time… come on, we can go get a pizza tomorrow, ok?"  
  
"But mom wants a pizza…"  
  
"No… she doesn't…" Sonia rolled her eyes, "Sonic, if this is a joke, it isn't funny anymore… let's go back to the van now, ok?"  
  
Sonic seemed like he wanted to protest, but then, just nodded…  
  
It only took about a minute to get back to the van, and as they got inside, Jennifer was still asleep and didn't seem like she had even been awake. Sonia and Manic helped Sonic back in his bunk, and as soon as his head touched the pillow, he started snoring, loudly.   
  
"That was just odd…" Manic scratched his neck, "I hope he actually WAS pulling a joke on us…"  
  
Sonia had walked over to the door and had started locking it from bottom to top, even placing a chair in front of it. She just nodded, sighing heavily.  
  
"I know… I'm surprised Jennifer didn't wake up, she's usually the one who sleeps the lightest…" she sat down on one of the remaining chairs that were still by the table. Manic shrugged his shoulders, sitting down as well.  
  
"Must've been that coffee she had… usually doesn't drink that stuff anyway…" he started drumming on the table with his fingers, "anyway, I'm gonna stay up for a while… maybe even go down to the town for breakfast later. I can't sleep …"  
  
Sonia nodded, getting her boots off while getting off the chair.  
  
"Ok… then I'm gonna go to bed…" she stretched while yawning a little, "I'll see ya in the morning then."  
  
Manic just nodded and kept on drumming on the table …  
  
He stopped after a while, just listening to the breathing of his siblings and Jennifer, staring out into the air… then, after around half an hour, he too fell asleep. Right after hearing Sonic sleep talking;  
  
"Does mom even like fish..?"  
  
Manic couldn't help smiling in his sleep…  
  
"You certainly don't have the OLC virus doctor, I can say that for sure!" the rabbit looked from the papers up at Robotnik, still with a nervous glance in his eyes, "I'll come test you again in two weeks time, ok?" he picked up his suitcase, just wanting to run out of the building and this city.  
  
"Sure." Robotnik looked him over, frowning, "you did bring the antidote, didn't you? Otherwise, I'm sure the roboticizer will be happy to meet you…"  
  
The doctor immediately started sweating; then, nodded, pointing to the table where he had left a small testing tube. Robotnik then frowned even more. Then nodded, motioning to the door.  
  
"Good… you can leave."  
  
He didn't have to say that twice. The rabbit was already on his way out. As the door closed behind him, Sleet stepped into the room.  
  
"Should we roboticize him…?" he motioned to the now closed door. A small cold smile crept across Robotnik's face. Before he nodded…  
  
It was now finally morning in the eastern Mobius range… the sun had come up, and the few arctic animals that lived around here had started coming out of their dens and caves. Only Sonic and Jennifer seemed to be asleep…  
  
"I can't believe they don't want breakfast… well, Sonic, I can probably believe, but J…?" Sonia motioned to the still sleeping Jennifer, "she's been sleeping all night, hasn't she?"  
  
"I don't really know… couldn't keep myself awake, but I didn't sense her moving around or anything…" Manic shrugged his shoulders, still eating, "I don't know… she just doesn't… well… seem ok… neither does bro…" he sent a somewhat nervous glance in Jennifer and Sonic's direction. Sonia just nodded.  
  
"I know what you mean… maybe we should go back to the HQ… it's just a day early anyway. But-" she was cut off as the communicator on the table started beeping. She and Manic looked at each other, a little surprised, but then, Manic picked it up, switching it on.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"It's Cyrus… how's your vacation going?" Cyrus's voice immediately replied… he sounded a little too happy…  
  
"Uh… ok… I suppose… we-" Manic was cut off as Sonia grabbed the communicator out of his hands.  
  
"What's wrong, Cyrus?" she frowned a little…  
  
"Well… listen, Blade wants you to come home… he's testing the entire HQ for a virus and he wants to check you guys as the first people." Cyrus's happiness was definitely gone now… Manic and Sonia both blinked in confusion.  
  
"Well, that shouldn't be any reason for us to hurry home! What kind of virus is it?" Sonia fiddled with her hair a little, still with a confused expression on her face.  
  
Cyrus was quiet for several seconds…  
  
"Cy…" Manic broke in, "what kind of virus?!"  
  
"I… well, I don't know if I was supposed to inform you this early, but you're gonna be told sooner or later anyway… it's called the Overlander Control Virus; basically, it's meant to infect and kill overlanders, but Mobians can get it too… and a few people in the town near you have traces of it in their blood…" he sighed audibly, "he just want to make sure that you guys don't have it."  
  
Sonia and Manic's eyes had already widened. Sonia almost dropped the communicator, but caught it before it hit the table.  
  
"We're on our way, Cy… thanks for informing us…" she turned the communicator off without waiting for a response from Cyrus.   
  
Manic had already jumped off the chair and sprinted over to Jennifer's bunk, shaking her by the shoulder.  
  
"J! Wake up!" he shook her harder, his eyes widening more and more, "hey!"  
  
Sonia shook Sonic a little too, but didn't get any reaction… Jennifer however finally seemed to wake up… she sniffled a little, finally opening her eyes, looking at Manic who was still having a hand on her shoulder, bluntly. However, she didn't seem to recognize anything and her eyes looked distant. Her pillow was wet from sweat as well and as Manic pulled off his glove and put a hand on her forehead, it was obvious that she was running a fever. She didn't even realize his hand was there.  
  
"He's not waking up!"  
  
Sonia made Manic turn to her with a gasp. She was still having a hand on Sonic's shoulder, and her eyes were brimming with tears.  
  
"He's breathing and his pulse is fine, but he's not waking up…" she dried the tears away, "this is bad, Manic…"  
  
"I… I know… she ain't reacting either…" Manic bit in his lip, looking Jennifer over again. She had closed her eyes again and had started shaking… Manic stroked her hand; it was terribly cold… he instantly grabbed his own blanket from his bunk and put it over her, turning to Sonia again.  
  
"Listen… we have to get back to the HQ like Cyrus said, I'm sure it ain't as bad as it looks." He did his best to smile at his sister, but it became nothing but a weird grimace. Sonia just looked down at Sonic again, with concern written all over her face.  
  
"Let's hope it isn't, Manic…"  
  
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END OF CHAPTER ONE.  
  
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There goes chappie one, hehe Hope you liked =3 I'm already writing insanely at the other chappies, so don't worry! I shall return! Thanks for reading =3  
  
Well, as I promised, I'd write a little about certain things since I haven't rewritten "Weak or Strong..?" or "Family Secrets" yet… cough…. So….  
  
BLADE THE ECHIDNA:  
  
Brown echidna with purple fringe. He worked as a doctor in the freedom fighter village he lived in, but it was attacked by Robotnik; He and the other freedom fighters in the village moved to the Underground Freedom Fighter HQ where Sonic and the others work. He still works as a doctor there, and is much appreciated in this story =3 He's © Lisa Hogan.  
  
More on him in the rewritten version of "Weak or Strong..?" =3 Yes… Janni shall hurry… --;  
  
AS FOR OTHER PARTS OF "WEAK OR STRONG…?":  
  
Sonic, Manic, Sonia and J also went on vacation there- or tried to at least. Cyrus disturbed them by telling them that they had to save a freedom fighter village from Robotnik, which is basically why Cyrus doesn't really want to disturb them again ;   
  
Lisa Hogan's other characters, Natalie the Cat, Petey the Cat and Sandy Shagwell (coughs… can't believe I made that surname up o.o;;) might appear in later chapters. Petey and Natalie lived in the freedom fighter village as well and Sandy… well, more about him in "Weak or Strong..?", won't wanna ruin the surprise =P  
  
Petey and Natalie are black cats and Sandy is a dingo/fox mix… I'll write more about these when they appear in later chapters =3  
  
JENNIFER'S PAST:  
  
If you read "Enemy or Ally?" you know that Robotnik kidnapped Jennifer from Earth… but that isn't all- huge SU fans who read every fanfic on this planet, INCLUDING Debbie Prichard's "Sonic Underground Meets Sailor Moon" already know that Jennifer is Robotnik's daughter…  
  
Yes…  
  
I suggest you read that… you can find it at: other people who don't have the time to read an entire fanfic:  
  
Robotnik had an experiment with a roboticizer. It blew up and created a portal somehow, and as he went through, he ended up on Earth. He met a woman named Sara O'Shea there, and talked her into going back to Mobius with him, and so she did. It didn't take long for Sara to find out that Robotnik was up to no good, but by then it was already too late; she was pregnant. She escaped from Robotropolis however and befriended Queen Aleena. She realized that she didn't want her child to grow up during the war on Mobius and Robotnik had told her that he still had the roboticizer that created the dimensional port and that he planned to use that to invade earth later. When she was 9 months pregnant, she said bye to Queen Aleena, and broke into Robotropolis; after stealing some grenades, she jumped through the portal and threw a grenade through, blowing the portal up.  
  
Back on earth, she found out that a metal piece from when the grenade exploded had been lodged in her heart, and she would have to go through surgery to remove it. Sara befriended a nurse, and made her promise that if anything would happen to Sara, she would find a home for the baby. She had an early delivery, but because she was about to bleed to death, she was taken to surgery at the same. She didn't survive that.  
  
Jennifer grew up at a foster family until she was abducted, but more about all of that later. =P 


End file.
